Being in community is key to battling weight lose and striving towards a healthy lifestyle. Nothing’s worse than being surrounded by people who are eating greasy fast food all day and sitting on the couch while trying to eat that salad after a 5 mile run.
That is why I have love the Internet! People of interests alike can come together in support for one another in so many different ways, especially when it comes to healthy living and weight loss. An internet community that I have been extremely inspired by is Sparkpeople, a weight loss community created to SPARK people’s desire to live a healthy lifestyle and lose weight.
Sparkpeople is 100% FREE with the resources, support, and community to push people towards healthy living.
Upon signing up, one can create a weight loss or maintenance goal. Based upon the food pyramid, sparkpeople creates a range of calories, carbs, fats, and protein needed to obtain weight goals. What I love the most about sparkpeople is that their philosophy is all about eating the things you enjoy but in moderation, never going below 1200 calories, and finding joy in living healthy.
Keeping track of what is being put in the mouth is made easy with a nutrition tracker that will add up all your calories, carbs, proteins, and fat to find that balanced diet. Sparkpeople offers daily meal plans around your caloric needs, or you can input your own meals.
An exercise tracker is used to keep count of how many calories are being burned as well.
A nutrition and exercise tracker is great, but without a community there is no accountability! Sparkpeople has a message board where people can find healthy recipes, motivation, support, and a place to voice weight loss frustrations and achievements. I love the replied I get, not only from the sparkpeople dieticians/coaches, but also the members. When I need advice on my diet or support/motivation when I feel burnt out, someone is always there for me to push me through.
Other things you can find on this website are great articles on nutrition, exercise, motivation, and health topics. You can join sparkteams that focus on different topics/interests such as clean eating, specific age groups, and running. You can find tons of great recipes ranging from low calorie to high protein meals that can spice up your diet and prevent food boredom.
I love sparkpeople and can’t believe that so many people have never heard about it before. This site is great not only for people that want to lose weight, but also for those with diabetes, heart problems, and other health related issues in which to help control their specific diets and stay on track to a health living! So what are you waiting for, go check it out!!!
{ 9 comments }
I have been a member of sparkpeople since 2008 and I love it. I really enjoy being part of a community. Also, the recipes on there are incredible. I love learning about all the ways I can make my meals healthier
i feel like my friends that i surround myself with are my best health community. i need that support so badly and its nice to have them to rely on
I have heard of spark people before, but I’ve never actually looked at it. Looks like it would be a great program for some of my clients.
I have an account with sparkpeople, but I don’t really frequent it anymore. Since moving to intuitive eating, I tend to visit less and less. However, their tools and resources are priceless when trying to develop a healthy lifestyle.
I used SP when I was first starting this most recent weight loss adventure, and it was instrumental in helping me learn to put healthy meals together and build a sustainable, nutritional way of eating. It was great for building momentum and excitement. Can’t recommend it strongly enough for anyone just getting started!
Think it’s a great site–I get recipes off of the website all the time
I have heard of SP and I think it is a great resource for people. I have most often fallen back on myself to get thru & move forward with the support of my hubby who lets me do my thing!
I never really used any of the online sites to do it BUT I do read them now for the wonderful info they have to offer!
I LOVE SP! I have used it before but right now I am doing it the old fashion way with a journal. I also love how they kept it FREE!
SP has been the number one tool at helping me make it to my weight loss goals! I have been a member for a few years now and even though I have tried *other* sites – Spark people is the BEST!
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